UFC Confirms Liddell-Franklin

The UFC on Monday made official a matchup that for weeks it had
vehemently denied and appeared to have worked to cover up.

Hall of famer Chuck
Liddell and former middleweight king Rich
Franklin will square off in the UFC
115 “Liddell vs. Franklin” headliner on June 12 at the GM Place
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The promotion confirmed the
main event the day before tickets went on sale to UFC Fight Club
members and three days prior to their being made available to the
general public.

Liddell was originally expected to meet arch rival Tito Ortiz for
a third time at the event, as the two former champions are coaching
opposite one another on Season 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality
series; the season premiered on March 31. Ortiz’s immediate future
remains unclear.

Sherdog.com reported the Liddell-Franklin matchup in March, citing
multiple sources. White later issued a public denial via Twitter
and pointed towards a fight pairing Franklin with Randy
Couture. “We are doing couture vs franklin not chuck,” his post
read. On March 29, the UFC held a media conference call to promote
the Liddell-Ortiz rematch, even though numerous outlets had
reported the fight was no longer happening. Ortiz was not present
on the call.

“I’ve heard the rumors, of course, but from what I understand,
[Ortiz] signed to fight and he’s still coming at me,” Liddell said
during the call. “He’s still going to actually show up and get his
beating again. I think I earned it having to put up with him for
seven weeks [during taping of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’].”

Liddell also addressed the Franklin report directly during the
call, either unaware the change had been made or toeing the company
line.

“I hope that’s not true,” he said. “I want [Ortiz] bad, so this
would really upset me if this doesn’t happen.”

The 40-year-old Liddell last competed in April 2009, when he
succumbed to first-round strikes from 2005 Pride Fighting
Championships middleweight grand prix winner Mauricio
“Shogun” Rua. Urged by White to retire, Liddell instead took a
spot on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” hinting all the while that
he intended to return to the cage. He has lost four of his last
five fights but carries with him one of the sport’s most impressive
resumes, including a pair of wins over both Ortiz and Couture.